Answer of the Questions from Henry Roche about Materialistic World

Dear Henry,
Hare Krishna. Thank you for your inquiry. Actually you had written quite some time back and for various reasons I could not reply. I hope this may still be of some help to you.

Answer

To more easily understand why God created this world in the first place, we can ask ourself the question, why does the government create a prison house in the first place.  The material world is compared to a prison house actually, the Sanskrit term is “durga”. We all know that actually the government would rather not have a place called a prison but because some people are not law-abiding citizens, the prison is there for them. Similarly, God would prefer not to have a material world, but because some
living entities are not law-aibding and wish to be independent, He creates this material world.

As for the second part of the question, why does God create one as a man, some as a dog, same analogy. Why are some people sent in solitary, why are some sent in first class, second class, third class cells, it is according to their previous activities. There are 8,400,000 different species of life, listed by main divisions in the scriptures, so according to “karma” we get a different type of body. Here are a few references from our Vedic literatures giving more explanation:

“The living entities are described as ananta, or unlimited; nonetheless, they are said to belong to 8,400,000 species. As stated in the Visnu Purana:

jala-ja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah catur-laksani manusah

“There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities (sthavara), such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned, there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species.” Some of these species may exist on one planet and not on another, but in any case within all the planets of the universe—and even in the sun—there are living entities. This
is the verdict of the Vedic literatures.”

From Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya Lila, Chapter 19, text 138

And again:

“In this material world there are 8,400,000 species of life. As spirit souls, they are all transcendental to this material world. Why, then, do they exhibit themselves in different stages of life? The answer is given here: they are under the spell of the three modes of material nature. Because they were created by the material energy, their bodies are made of the material elements. Covered by the material body, the spiritual identity is lost, and therefore the word mumuhe is used here, indicating that they have forgotten their own spiritual identity. This forgetfulness of spiritual identity is present in the jivas, or souls, who are conditioned, being subject to be covered by the energy of material nature. Jnana-guhaya is another word used. Guha means “covering.” Because the knowledge of the minute conditioned souls is covered, they are exhibited in so many species of life. It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Seventh Chapter, First Canto, “The living entities are illusioned by the material energy.” In the Vedas also it is stated that the eternal living entities are covered by different modes and that they are called tricolored—red, white and blue—living entities. Red is the representation of the mode of passion, white is the representation of the mode of goodness, and blue is the representation of the mode of ignorance. These modes of material nature belong to the material energy, and therefore the living entities under these different modes of material nature have different kinds of material bodies. Because they are forgetful of their spiritual identities, they think the material bodies to be themselves. To the conditioned soul, “me” means the material body. This is called moha, or bewilderment.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 26, entitled ‘Fundamental
Principles of Material Nature’, Text 5, Purport.

Answer

Good question. This is all explained in one of the ancient scriptures called the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The first created being is Lord Brahma. He is considered a demi-god, not God, but a very elevated person, the most intelligent in the universe. Lord Brahma has his own planet called Brahma-loka, the highest planet in the material world.

Those who are demi-gods live on other planets and they can create differently than we. For example, Brahma can create with his mind. He can also create from different parts of his body. So creation of human species is done by Lord Brahma in different ways. You are correct, medically, if we all came from the same person, production would not be possible. So these things are addressed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

I wish to apologize for replying so late. Before reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam, may I suggest that you get a copy of this most important book called “Bhagavad-gita As it Is” translated by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who is the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In that book there is also explanation about different species of life and preliminary information about the creation also.

Thank you for your very intelligent questions. All the best in your pursuit for deeper understanding of life. Hare Krishna.

Your well-wisher,

RP Bhakti Raghava Swami